As Clichéd as it Sounds
by clandestine.masquerade
Summary: I, Athena Wicke, am from a pureblood family... and was still placed in Gryffindor. Sounds familiar, right? Well, Sirius Black is my enemy; but lately... there's been something going on. A secret. A satire on SB/OC Fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Athena's Memory

It was so taunting, every single year, to watch those other purebloods being sorted into Slytherin. It's like they do it to annoy me. Seriously, when I was eleven that was all I wanted: to be sorted into Slytherin. And look where I sit now – the Gryffindor table. It was downright remarkable that I'm even here; stuck with all these loyal and brave prats. The only ones I could bloody stand are Lily and Alice. The rest are all just plain stuck up.

Take, for instance, the Marauders, who were sitting only a few feet from my friends and me. Poofs. They were so damn annoying – especially when they cheer for all the twerps sorted into our bloody house. Wonkers. I sat up primly, turning up my nose. It was the only thing a girl could do to ignore them. Seriously, it's ridiculous. They even smell good. They're hard to hate – unless you ignore that smell and those eyes and get right down to their personalities.

I glanced at them from the corner of my eye. All stuffing their faces with the food that had just magiked itself onto their plates. _What a turn off, _I thought as I watched my nemesis – Sirius Black – stuff an entire leg of turkey into his mouth. I still couldn't deny that he was looking fabulous tonight, as I was sure he was thinking of me.

We were odd that way – we hated each other but there was always that little distraction. I cleared my throat, pulling the hem of my skirt farther down my leg. I wasn't going to think of that right now. I was hungry, and there was food set before me. I dug in; the food kept my mouth busy, but not my mind. And so it wandered to the Coming of Age party for Rodolphus Lestrange, my other half.

The event had been grand. Every loyal pureblood family was invited and it was mandatory for all to attend. I wouldn't have complained anyway; I was looking forward to Rodolphus's surprise for me that he has mentioned in an owl to me the night before. I was really excited over it. I wore my best knickers and my hair was curled perfectly by Polly, my house elf, and Madame Witch, a dress shop in Paris, designed my dress especially for me. I knew I was stunning and I had made sure of it. I had to be ready for anything, I thought.

The night was spent flirting with Rodolphus, resisting the heaps of chocolate set out for decoration, and making sure I didn't get too jumpy or nervous. The only thing that went wrong was that stupid sniveling Black girl, Bellatrix, who was after the same prize as I was. I could tell by the way she pawed at his arm for attention every time he spoke to me.

Eventually, he gave me that secret smile that I loved, the one that said that he and I were to meet in the corridor. I knew that it meant I would have my surprise. I had beaten Bella to the prize. Within a few minutes, we had both made it to the staircase down the corridor. I was the last to come, and as soon as I saw him I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. It lasted a few minutes, and then he broke it off with a small smirk. I smirked back, my tongue tracing my lips as I stared pointedly at him mouth.

"You know I need to tell you something," he whispered, pulling at a curl and letting it bounce back to my head. I nodded, my head buzzing with excitement. "Well, here it is. I'm engaged to Bella."

I choked on the heated air in our nook, my excited buzz turning into the worst headache of my life in an instant. I felt like I was dying, and then I felt the tears dripping from my cheeks, ruining my makeup and staining my beautiful gown. And then… I ran. I raced down the corridor, through the study and out through the oak doors to the garden, panting as I went. I tripped, falling and catching myself on the rim of the fountain. I looked at my reflection, sobbing angrily. How could he have done that to me?

I had purer blood! I was prettier! I was the better of the two of us, and he chose her! And worse, I was probably the last to know, and I probably looked like a slag clinging to an engaged man all night! He had soiled me! Completely and utterly!

I sat there a few minutes, staring at my reflection in the dark water. The sobbing slowed but my tears didn't. My hands were trembling furiously. I curled up into a ball, wrapping my arms securely around my legs and rocking back and forth like I used to when I was a child. I felt like a child. I had given my heart away to be smashed.

The wind picked up, sending the scent of the moon and some sweet earthen smells my way, making my curls whip around my face. Then a shadow blocked out the moon.

I looked up, swiping away the tears from my cheeks. Sirius Black was standing there, a look of empathy on his face. He sat beside me gently, tugging his tie off and shoving it into his pocket and pushing his sleeves up his arms. He lounged there a while. Then, he whispered, "You okay?"

"Not really."

"Anything I can do?"

And I just looked at him. He was being nice to me, even after all the things he'd done and said to me. We were enemies and he was trying to make me feel better. I definitely wouldn't have done the same if it was him have a fit at some party. I would have just laughed and used it against it later. I guess he was the better person, then. I swallowed, taking in his dark eyes and hair that glinted silver from the moon behind him. My heart leapt to my throat. "You want to help me?" New tears flooded my eyes.

He shrugged, "As long as it doesn't kill me."

I smiled tearfully. "You're so _nice_. Why the hell are you _nice_? You're a Black."

He looked at my hands, clutching my dress. "I've never been a Black."

I felt really hot, even in the cool night air. Maybe this dress wasn't such a great idea. "I'm sorry."

"So what happened?"

"Your cousin is engaged to Rodolphus," I choked out, my voice sounding scratchy.

He grunted a bit, shuffling toward me, "I know, so?" I started sobbing again and buried my head in my skirts. "_Oh_. You liked him. Well, at least you didn't really do anything with him." That made me so harder. I really wanted to slap Sirius all of a sudden. He had _no_ idea. I heard him gasp a little beside me. "No way, not you! He didn't… you didn't…"

"Yeah, we did," I hissed, my teeth clenched. "I bloody gave him everything! Stupid, stupid, _stupid_!" I screamed at the sky, not caring who heard me anymore.

"Well, shh, shh! You don't want my mum hearing that."

I laughed again, my mood changing drastically. It seemed to do that a lot. "Well, on the other hand it doesn't matter who I sleep with now. Its not any more special than… well, I don't know. But it's not special anymore at all. It's not my first, so who cares?"

He chuckled darkly, "You sound like me."

I looked at him, rolling my eyes. "I do not sound like you."

"You do actually. Horrible morals, though. But I've never heard it from anyone else before, so it never sounded so bad."

"You've never felt this way."

"Who says?"

I responded hotly. "Me."

"That doesn't count and you know it," he smirked, crossing his arms triumphantly. His elbow brushed my arm, making me shiver.

"Haha, Sirius," I giggled, "Very funny. Now, you offered me something to cheer me up…"

"Oh, Merlin. I guess that was a mistake," he grinned.

"Depends on how you look at it," I shrugged, unwrapping my arms and standing to smooth my skirt. He stood, too. "Do I look alright?"

He pursed his lips, "Not really. There's mascara everywhere. And your lipstick's all smudged. What did you do?"

"I made my last mistake before he told me."

He frowned, "You could have made something up."

"Who says I didn't?"

"Good point."

"Anyway, I need you to help clean me up before I go back inside," I whispered, stepping closer to him so I could wrap my arms around him neck, much like I did with Rodolphus only a half hour before. I pulled him to me so my face was only a few centimeters from his and my chest was tight to him. I pulled him face down so our lips almost met.

"What are we doing?" he asked, his voice husky and low. I smelled that earthen smell again radiating off of him.

I touched his cheek. "I don't know…" I mouthed as our eyes closed and our lips met hungrily. We stood there snogging a while, completely content. And then I felt my hand tracing his collar and his tugging at the string tying my dress in the back. It only took a couple minutes for me to be standing there I nothing but my nice knickers and him in his unbuttoned pants.

Then I heard my mum screaming for me from the door, her eyes burning with hatred and rage at Sirius' arms holding me up, staring at the offspring of her oldest, most hated enemy touching the bear skin of her daughter. "ATHENA!"

"_ATHENA!_" another voice called. Different, though, far away… "Pay attention! Diner's over, we have to go to the common room." Lily.

Then, I heard Alice, "She's been completely out of it the whole time… just staring at her food…"

"I know, odd for her. Usually she's screaming at Black by now…" Lily worried, shaking her red hair. She would think that, wouldn't she? She had no idea what had happened at that party over the summer. I didn't think anyone did.

And then I heard that deep voice for the first time since that night, "What's wrong ladies?"

"Back off, Black. I think she'll ill."

There was silence.

"Do you want me to help her to the Hospital Wing?"

Two identical gasps from my friends. I twitched, looking up at them. "It's alright, I was just thinking. I'm… fine," I answered, my voice sounding shocked and airy. Like I had the wind knocked out of me. I shot a look of warning at Sirius, who looked at me with wide eyes, like he was surprised about something. But he nodded discreetly, and I brushed past him I usually would.

I'd talk to him later.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Sirius' Strange Reactions

It was odd to see Athena not eating at a meal (she was prim and proper, but the girl was not afraid of feeding herself), much less slumped over. I stared at her, fighting that tingling feeling that went through my stomach whenever I was around her. I cursed internally – I really regretted letting it go that far at the party. I was trying to repress the memory with the guilt, but truthfully, I didn't really want to. It had been… amazing. Until her mother ruined it of course. That was definitely _not_ amazing.

I blinked, ripping my eyes away from Athena to the worried looks on Lily and Alice's faces. Yeah, there was something wrong. I didn't like the look of it, either. The girl looked catatonic, for Merlin's sake!

"Padfoot? Yoohoo, Padfoottttt! You there?" I shook my head, turning toward James. He rolled his eyes, "So what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About me trying to just ignore Lily for once? _The Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches_ says it'll drive her mad; Remus thinks so too. But I don't know… do you think it's just make her even angrier?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Why did you buy that book anyway? You could've just asked _me_. And yeah, it could work. You've tried every other way." There were snickers from Remus and Peter and James was giving me that playful scathing look. It didn't last long; he burst into a smile pretty quickly.

"Yeah, maybe," Prongs sighed hopefully, his eyes doing that weird sparkly thing again as he gazed at his Lily-flower. Merlin, did I just think that? Just one of the mushy thoughts that I've been thinking inadvertently lately – another side effect of the party. I couldn't believe I was getting side effects from it; it's not like an illness to do a girl... which made it even more annoying that I was being so brainless like this. I felt Moony and Prongs staring at me again. Wormtail kept stuffing his face, evidently oblivious to what was going on around him. "Uh… You sure you're okay, Pads?"

"Yeah, just thinking…"

"About Athena?" I looked at them with a shocked expression. Remus sighed, shaking his head in pity. "It's not hard to guess, mate. You keep staring at her – it's getting a little frightening actually. Now tell us what's up. And don't say there's nothing, cause we know that's a lie."

I tried to come up with a lie and failed. I sighed, "Okay, so something did happened." They both leaned in, interested by my uneasy tone of voice. I didn't get nervous easily, and they knew that. They knew everything. Damn. I really couldn't lie to them, could I? "Er… well, there was this party, right? For Lestrange turning seventeen? Yeah, my mum forced me to go, so I went for the food. And I was just sitting there is the garden, and she came running out crying and all this manic-depressive shit. She was curled up in a ball, for Merlin's sake! So I went to comfort her. And you know she was really upset cause Bellatrix is marrying Lestrange and she and him had this thing. And I mean, a thing." Remus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. James grunted, as usual, at the mention of the sex lives of our peers. "So I said I'd help her out. And you know, one thing led to another-"

"WHAT?" They both had not seen that coming. They had actually probably suspected it, but ruled it out as impossible. I would've to, if I hadn't been the one undressing her that night.

I nodded, my face heating up. I hadn't blushed since I was six, damn it. She was really screwing me over. Shit. "Yeah, well at first it was just snogging and then she was unbuttoning my shirt and yeah… sort of liked it actually… up until her mum came out and saw us. I think it scared the old bat, actually. Understandable, really - I was about the screw her daughter, anyone would go mad if they saw that happening." I shrugged, acting like it was nothing at all. It really was something, though.

Remus cleared his throat quickly, obviously avoiding looking at Athena, who was still glaring at her pork. "'_About_ to screw her daughter?'"

"Yeah, it's didn't actually… happen. Almost. _Merlin_, I love French knickers…" I sighed wistfully.

James was blinking at me thoughtfully. "So… you nearly screwed Lily's friend?"

I sighed, "Yup."

"Can'ya help me? If you can get Athena, I can get Lily!"

Peter snorted, for the first time coming into the conversation. "I doubt it. Athena's a slag, but Lily… she's completely set on avoiding blokes in general until she finds 'the one'."

We all stared at him, completely shocked at this pearl of wisdom from Peter. I was a bit offended for Athena, though, but the message was still about the same. "Wow, Pete… that's good," I heard James say, as if it had never crossed his mind.

Peter grinned smugly, hopping up to join the crowd of people wandering towards the doors. Remus and James stood too, but I stayed, gazing at Lily and Alice who were prodding Athena concernedly. "You coming, mate?" Prongs called, looking at me with a slightly pitying gleam in his eye.

I shook my head, my voice cracking. "Nah, I'll meet you in the common room."

"Right. See you," Prongs sighed, walking away behind Remus and Peter, who were talking animatedly about something. I had little doubt that it had to do with food, the next full moon, or birds. Probably the last.

I turned, walking up behind Alice and Lily, who were discussing the odd mood of their friend. "…Odd for her. Usually she's screaming at Black by now…"

"What's wrong, ladies?" I asked, my voice oddly low. It sounded really strange, like I had been punched in the gut and was trying not to whimper like a coward. I winced slightly at the thought and wondered if Athena noticed… or even heard the conversation.

Alice sniffed, turning away with her nose in the air. "Back off, Black. I think she'll ill," she said, as if I would only be here to make it worse. In fact, that's probably exactly what she thought. I spent a bit scowling at her, trying to make up my mind whether to just walk away or try to be kind, even with her defiant friends. It only took a few seconds of looking at her mahogany curls to make up my mind.

"Do you want me to help her to the Hospital Wing?"

The girls gaped at me, making me feel awkward. I ignored them, staring at Athena as her shoulders tensed and she shook her head, almost sleepily. "It's alright, I was just thinking. I'm… fine," she gasped. It sounded like someone had poured a bucket of water over her head. She sounded almost ill, I noted with slight worry. She gave me a look that plainly said 'leave it', and so I did. I walked away, my mind still stuck of her face. And that face melted into the moon-bathed one from only a couple weeks ago…

-*-*-*-*-*-

I took the long way back to the common room with a slow pace. I needed some quiet; some time to think. I seemed to be thinking a lot of that lately – stupid guilt; stupid memories 'Stupid, stupid, _stupid_!' her voice echoed again in my head. I shivered. There must be a draft or something in this bloody building…

As my path crossed into the main corridor on the sixth floor, I heard the giggling of three teenage girls. Or two, rather, while the other was trying to shut them up. "Shush you gits! You're going to wake the castle! I don't want anyone hearing about this!" the voice groaned, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "Anyway, it's never going to happen. Did you see the way he was tonight? He didn't bother me once. I think he's actually over me," Lily's voice said again, just as the three girls walked past me. Lily, who was in between Alice, who was nearest me, and Athena, whose head was turned towards Lily. Lily and Alice were completely oblivious to me standing there, but as Athena glanced back to Lily, I saw her eyes catch my gaze.

Lily kept on talking as they walked down the hall, despite Athena's sudden inattention. "I always hoped he'd get over me, but _now_…" I sighed silently, backing up so I was almost against the wall and could watch them longer. I lingered there a will, listening intently.

"Oh!" Athena gasped theatrically, "I left my… er… bracelet in the Great Hall! I've got to go get it. I'll… meet you both in the dorm?"

The two exchanged a glance, but nodded, murmuring their goodbyes. Athena smiled, walking back down the hall towards me. I almost believed she had forgotten her bracelet, until she slipped down the corridor I was still standing in. "What are you doing, Sirius Black?" she hissed, her hair dancing around her face.

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing?'" I sighed, staring at her.

"I mean, why are you following me? And how much did you hear?"

"Just… you know… Lily."

She sucked in a breath, shoving me against the wall. I was too stunned to gain my balance, so I just stayed there. She still had her hand pressed to my chest. "You will not tell James about that, right? You _will not_."

"You're really frightening when you do that –"

"Promise me," she growled, her nails digging into me.

I grinned, "Fine, fine. I promise."

"Great," she smiled.

"… Right," I replied, letting my eyes go down the length of her body.

"Listen," she moaned, her head going into her hands desperately. Her temperament changed in an instant. "We need to talk… about what happened."

"Yeah? Do we, or do you just want to go through with it this time?" I grinned cheekily. I gathered her in my arms, bringing her to me as I started to kiss her neck.

"Sirius…" she groaned, her voice only a whisper. "Really… we need to – oh! – talk…" She struggled as I went along her jaw and to her ear.

I smirked against her skin. I wanted to talk as well, but really? I didn't think now was the best time anymore. I said as much into her ear, my breath sending a shiver down her spine. That reaction made me feel good… really good. I grinned in the darkness as she pushed away from me slowly, almost reluctantly. We stared at each other, me with a grin and her with a stubborn frown, crossing our arms.

"Sirius, I'm serious."

"No, you're –"

"Shut it! Now, you know that we need to talk, and what you're doing only reinforces that point," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. I could see her cheeks flush. "I don't think we see this the same way. Cause really, your acting like what we did wasn't a mistake. You're acting like you'd do it all again."

It was my turn to frown. "Well, who says I don't think it's a mistake? I mean, I liked it, but I know that it's –"

"It _was_ a mistake. And it's not going to happen anymore; it's just _not_ going to happen again." She turned to walk away.

"Why?"

She spun, looking at me incredulously. "Because… just because. You know why –"

"No. No I don't."

Her confidence feel off her face as her fingers went to her hair again. "Sirius… I liked it too… but… I haven't been me since. My mother hasn't spoken to me either. My father knows, too, and so does my _little sister_. And you know my mum – it's not a secret anymore. I ruined my own reputation so many times in one night. I'm practically an outcast, now! And forever this time!" I stared at her open mouthed. I didn't think she cared that much about pureblood society… I had been wrong. I saw the tears in her eyes.

I felt a surge of anger. I thought she had been more like me than them. I thought she was on my side – even with all the bickering and fighting. I had assumed too much of her, though. She was just as shallow as them. My eyes narrowed. "If _everyone_ knows, then why do your friends look so clueless?"

"I don't want them to know."

"Why not?"

"Listen!" she hissed again, pulling her wand on me. I was still leaning against the wall. "You will not tell them. I'll hex you from here to hell is you do! Okay? They didn't even know about my thing with Rodolphus! How am I supposed to explain this?"

"Tons of firewhiskey and your French knickers?" I laughed, wincing theatrically.

"No. I'm not lying."

"Not telling is lying, you know."

"No it's not, now _good night_," she snapped, stomping down the hall to the dorms. I watched silently as her disappeared around the corner. I slumped down the wall – that had _not_ gone well.

-*-*-*-*-*-

**Preview of Chapter Three:** "There you are, Athena! We've been waiting for you. Now, admit it. We know something's up between you and Black."

I stared at them, speechless. I gaped at them floundering for a few seconds, before gasping a quick, "I don't know what you're talking about," as I rushed to my bed.

As soon as my hands met the surface of the soft bedding, Alice smiled smugly, as if I had just fallen into some trap. "What about you being civil between each other at diner and there being no bracelet? We know you well enough that we know you despise the things. So now, _spill_. We want to hear _everything_."

-*-*-*-*-*-

**Author's Note:** As you can see, this is from Sirius' point of view. Ah, how absolutely adorable it is that he's so intensely wrapped up in her even though they've always been enemies and had one close encounter! I'm not saying it was a minor encounter, but he's had worse, right?

Keep reading! I know this chapter isn't as quick moving as the last, but I already have the next two in my head just waiting to written, and their sure to be a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Trust me. 

Also, thank you so much for all the reviews on the first chapter! I was so thrilled to see you guys liked it, and wow! Ten reviews are a lot, at least for one chapter! I was so overwhelmed and I just wanted to thank you. Now, if you want to make my day even brighter, post a review!

By the way, who here caught the inauguration ceremony today?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:** Athena's Confession

I was surprisingly dizzy as I stamped my way back up the corridor and to the common room for the first time in months. My head was spinning and my stomach was turning, growling from not being fed. I probably would have snuck down to the kitchen if I didn't know Sirius was still haunting the corridors and would assume I had found him for a nice little tryst in a nearby broom closet. I muttered a curse as I realized that dizzy feeling was making my hands numb. I wasn't going to risk going down there – I was getting too worked up to stand being within twelve feet of the lunatic called Sirius Black. So, even though I was feeling faint and my breathing wasn't as even or slow as it should have been, I kept trudging up the flights of stairs.

As I trudged, I thought. Sirius bloody Black. I had hated him only weeks ago and that feeling had been very strong. I remembered it, but I couldn't summon it to me. I had hated him for years, damn it, so why couldn't I hate him now? It may have been the sweet way he comforted me when I was an emotional wreck. It could have been the way he held me that was a soft and reassuring, but firm and urgent. Or, if I wanted to be a romantic, I could have said it was the color of his fathomless eyes, which perfectly matched the blue-tinted gray hue of the moon that watched us as we kissed. Or I could have just said that he was pretty damn sexy for a sixteen year old. Either way would probably do.

In any case, the bloke who made every whore and their mother in school feel like swooning was not someone that I thought I should mess around with. Messing around, physically, would probably be brilliant, but messing around figuratively… that was probably dangerous. I wasn't really sure myself what that load meant. But anyway, I knew he was one of those guys. And I refused to be _one of those girls_.

And I was also pretty sure that every last one of _those girls_ had thought the very same thing after having buttery kisses trailed down their neck by the infamous Black. Every last one. They didn't want to fall into that trap, but the fact was… they always did. It was just that good of a trap. The false sense of security just snared you even worse. So, even if I didn't want to be _one of those girls_ and he assured me I wasn't _one of those girls_, but special, that probably meant I was indeed… you know, the unspeakable. And I couldn't let that happen, could I?

It was so tempting to let it happen. Even if it only lasted a week, those feather like kisses and those sensual nips were probably worth it. I considered that briefly – a purely physical relationship. I decided that that probably should appeal to me at this point – and it did, to a point. I was definitely not over the hurt and embarrassment cast on me by my dear Rodolphus, my 'one and only love'. No, I probably wouldn't be for a while. I didn't want a relationship, with all the facades and fights that went with, but I wanted those damn nibbles on my ear and his rough hands running through my hair. They were simply addicting, as much as I hated to admit it. So I concluded that could handle that sort of relationship, as long as there were no strings attached. None of the hardships, all of the pleasure.

_So_, I asked myself inwardly, _you are not one of those girls because, and only because, you're different. In that you're willing to just cough it up without the commitment and hand holding in the corridors and kisses in the common room and _knowing_ he isn't doing the same thing with another girl… for the sex._

There was momentary lapse in my thinking process, then, _Bollocks. I should probably think this over_, the other half of my brain reasoned as my body brought me up to face the portrait of the fat lady. "Password," she crooned, still primping herself in the little hand mirror she usually had set on the small table beside her.

"Flacidonius," I muttered, my tongue shaping the word numbly. I decided that, lest Alice and Lily suspect something, I should put my mind away for the night. Not keeping myself preoccupied, if even for a second, was making my eyes droop as I dragged my feet through the common room filled with some blokes and a couple girls who shared my dormitory and up the stairs to the dormitory. I was fully ready to collapse as I pushed through the door to our room.

"There you are, Athena! We've been waiting for you. Now, admit it. We know something's up between you and Black."

I stared at them, speechless. I gaped at them floundering for a few seconds, before gasping a quick, "I don't know what you're talking about," as I rushed to my bed.

As soon as my hands met the surface of the soft bedding, Alice smiled smugly, as if I had just fallen into some trap. "What about you being civil between each other at diner and there being no bracelet? We know you well enough that we know you despise the things. So now, _spill_. We want to hear _everything_."

I moaned softly into the pillow I had pushed to my face as Alice was speaking. "Everything?"

"Every. Little. Detail," Lily replied. I could tell by the sticky tone to her voice that she was grinning manically, the way she always did was she was about to hear a bit of gossip.

I pulled my face from the pillow, frowning at them, giving them the puppy dog eyes. "You guys… I'm really tired don't you think I could tell you in the –"

"Nope!" Alice teased cheekily, "You're not getting out of this one."

I groaned again, falling back to stare at the canopy on my bed. I could always refuse to tell them – it's not like they'd actually want to hear about the part I was mulling over in my head. The part when his hand slid up my thigh and his tongue did this marvelous thing with my earlobe. I suddenly had this feeling of being watched, and sat up. Alice and Lily were grinning at me with identical smug expressions. "What?"

"Stop making sighing and reenacting whatever happened in your head. We want to hear it!"

I gave them a guilty look. "Sorry… but before I say anything… will you guys promise not to kill me? I don't care if you get mad, just don't kill me." They rolled their eyes, which I took as a signal that they agreed to my terms and just wanted me to get out with it. "Fine. Well… it sort of started last year - in the fall. Umm, you remember when I'd go to the libraries late to get in some study time?" Nods. "Well… I was sort of, kind of meeting up with Rodolphus Lestrange in the broom closet on the third floor, you know, the one by the Transfiguration room? Yeah. Well, umm… it sort of started out as snogging but then…" They were giving me this curious look. "Please, guys, don't make me say it!"

"We don't really know…" Lily began, but Alice seemed to be catching on, because she was giving me this disgusted look that purely said, 'You had sex with a Slytherin?!"

"… Fine, Lily. We had sex a few times –"

"MERLIN ATHENA! You had sex with –"

"SHUT UP! I don't want the bloody castle to hear about my bloody sex life!"

She was giving me this hurt look, and I felt sort of sorry, but decided it was her own fault for making me shut her up like that. "Anyway, I sort fell in love with him. So… this summer I went to his Coming of Age party and he told me he had a surprise for me before, so I was all dressed up. And then he pulled me out in the hallway and told me… he's engaged to Bellatrix. Black."

"Oh, bloody hell," Alice mumbled, shaking her head pityingly.

Lily, who was looking less sympathetic, just mumbled, "Bollocks."

"Yeah. Of course, I was really upset so I ran outside. I was crying there, and then, all of a sudden, there was Sirius, and he was being really nice. He comforted me and made me laugh and… he offered to do anything for me to make me feel better. So, I sat there, and the only thing that I really wanted at that moment was to be in a broom cupboard with Rodolphus again, completely oblivious as I always was. So… you know, I kissed him."

There were two small, slightly nervous giggles. Lily, always the innocence, looked quite a bit happier. "So that's it, you kissed?"

"Not… exactly…" For the first time, there was absolute silence in the room. "Listen! It's not what it sounds like!"

"Then what was it, Athena?"

"We snogged! It was… kind of heated, but we never went past snogging, not once! I mean, we might have, heat of the moment and all that…"

"Just how far did you go with him, Athena?" Lily questioned, her voice almost weak.

"I- we- we snogged. And I was in my knickers. And his pants were unbuttoned… but that's all!"

"That's all?" Alice squealed, "You think that's little? And you didn't tell us before? Athena! You're the first to actually do anything past snogging with a bloke, and you didn't tell your best mates?"

"I thought you'd be –"

"Angry? I'm furious, for one!" Lily said. Her eyebrows pulled together, "We were supposed to be together in this. I hate Potter, you hate Black. It was… sort of our thing."

"I know," I groaned, my head spinning even faster then after my almost-talk with Sirius in the corridor. "And I'm sorry… but you'd never believe what he can _do_, he –"

"I don't really want to hear your fantasies," Alice giggled, shaking her pixy-like head. I smiled, happy that Alice was, for one, okay with all this. I don't know why, but I had the strange uneasiness about it that told me they'd both hate me forever. And it really was strange of me to think that – they were my best friends after all, through thick and thin. I turned my head to Lily, my eyes glittering with hopefulness.

She gave a heavy sigh, "Okay, okay, I forgive you. But only if you tell us what happened in the corridor after diner!"

As we all laughed together, my heart felt lighter than it had in almost a year. It was odd, though, that I couldn't keep those warm tears from pooling in my eyes.

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**Preview of Chapter Four:**"Don't touch me!" Wicke screamed vehemently in my face as I shoved her shoulders to the wall. I spat at her.

"Don't think you can act so high and mighty, anymore, dear little Athena. I know whom you ran to when I told you how happy Bella and I are going to be in only two short months… I know where you were that first night last week, as well. Don't think your comedy of errors has gone unnoticed you the people who know and care for you best," I hissed. I was angry. She thought she was over me, but she didn't know the half of it. I gestured to the group of Slytherins gathered behind me, all smirking at the teardrops sliding down her brave little Gryffindor face…

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**Author's Note: **Ahh, how perfect Athena and her friends are perfectly happy and content, even though she's lied to them for nearly a year. Did you read the chilling little excerpt from the next chapter? Yep, next up is Rodolphus' point of view! How exciting... ;)

Wow! I can't thank you all enough for the numerous reviews you left me! They're all so sweet and helpful and encouraging; I really appreciate each and every one. Thanks again to those who reviewed! And those who haven't, I'd appreciate it very much if you'd leave a note to tell me what you did or didn't like about this chapter or the story as a whole so far. Thanks again! You're all fantastic.


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